Happy Release Day to Jessica Sorensen and her new book UNTAMED! This is book 2 in the Unbeautiful Series following the story of Emery and Ryler. Make sure to enter the giveaway below for a chance to win an ebook copy of this book. Good luck!

Emery
No matter how hard I try, I never seem to be able to escape my family’s world. Their madness controls my life, just like insanity consumes my mind.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s real.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell who I really am. The person everyone sees? Or the one I keep trapped inside?
I wonder which person Ryler sees. Just like I wonder who I can trust.
Wonder. Wonder. Wonder.
I wonder too much.
I wish I could just find a way to escape it all and finally be free.

Ryler
I live a double life and sometimes I hate myself for it. Watching Emery fall apart—pretending I don’t care—is killing me inside.
I want to tell her the truth, but I also want a new life.
Want. Want. Want.
I want too much. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what I really desire.
I wish I could be free from the confusion, free from this life.

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“If you want to dance, dance. There’s no judgment at these things, which makes them pretty awesome.”

She smiles, and then threads her fingers through mine. “Okay, let’s dance, then.”

I don’t bother mentioning that dancing can be extremely sexy when done under the right circumstances—circumstances that usually include alcohol and sexual tension.

At first, Emery is cautious, keeping her distance from me as she rocks her hips to the music. I move with her. I’ve never really been into dancing, but I can rock out to a little garage rock any day. The longer the song goes on, the more into it she gets, until she finally spins around and presses her back against my chest. That’s when the two of us decide to start playing a dangerous game of Want But Can’t Have. A very, very dangerous game that is really fucking tortuous to play yet impossible to give up.

Emery starts grinding her hips to the sultry beat of the song. With each movement, her ass brushes against my cock, making me go rock hard. I grip the curves of her hips and my hands unnecessarily slip underneath the bottom of her shirt. My fingers delve into her soft flesh, and I bite back a moan. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve forgotten just how soft her skin is, how amazing she smells, how incredible she feels against me.

She shivers from my touch and presses closer, rolling her hips and driving my body absolutely mad. She repeats the movement over and over again, until finally, I damn near lose my mind.

Gripping her waist, I spin her around to face me. “I thought you didn’t know how to dance?”

Michel’s Review

The Unbeautiful Series is a spin off from the Violet & Luke books.  It is separate from the Violet & Luke books and can be read without reading the Violet & Luke books.  The Unbeautiful Series has to be read in order.

The Unbeautiful Series is unlike the previous books that Jessica Sorensen has written.  Jessica is known for her dark characters that are struggling with issues from their past that has led to present day problems.  Her books usually focus on the characters dealing with these issues and overcoming them to the best of their abilities.  The Unbeautiful series does have a taste of this but also adds something more.  It adds mystery, intrigue, and suspense.  The focus is on two characters equally struggling with their past and present.  Their life situations put them in very real danger for different reasons.  Both of their reasons are life threatening.  The one thing that they have in common is the enemy.

The Unbeautiful Series will keep you glued to the pages.  It will keep you wrapped up in the mystery that unfolds.  It will have you biting your nails, hoping that Ryler and Emery make it out alive and  have a chance of a normal happy life.

The Unbeautiful Series will not disappoint.

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In the first book, Unbeautiful, the reader gets an introduction to the characters.  Ryler was introduced in the Violet & Luke books.  Ryler is Luke’s cousin from Las Vegas.  Ryler was brought up in foster homes his entire life.  His father was a shady professional gambler that couldn’t be bothered with raising a child.  Ryler was abandoned until he turned eighteen and could be a useful asset to his father’s shady dealings.

While living in the foster homes throughout his childhood, Ryler experienced abuse, violence, neglect, and rejection.  He became a juvenile delinquent. At age sixteen he landed in some very serious trouble with the law for aggravated assault.  He was protecting another foster kid from abuse.  In the alteration he was seriously injured and lost his voice.  Once he turned eighteen his father finally decided to claim him and take him under his dirty wings.  This leads to more trouble with the law.  It puts the final mark on Ryler’s criminal record that will destroy his hopes for a future life away from darkness and crime.  After meeting his cousin Luke and his girlfriend Violet, Ryler wants a normal life.  He wants to attend college, make something of himself, and escape the ugly world he has lived in.  His only hope comes from the FBI.  The FBI is willing to relocate Ryler and erase his criminal record.  This opportunity comes with a high price.  Ryler will have to infiltrate the underworld as an informant in Laramie, Idaho.  The FBI has been trying to build a case against known Mafia Kingpin leader, Donny Elderman.  The FBI wants Ryler to infiltrate his network and find the location of the elusive warehouse where Donny’s operations take place.  It is a very dangerous job that could cost Ryler his life.  Is it worth risking his life for a chance at a normal life?

Emery has come to Laramie to attend the university.  It took a miracle to convince her parents to allow her to leave home.  She has had a condition of psychosis and hallucinations her entire life.  Her parents have been abusive in horrific ways using her psychosis as the reason.  She has had to hide her condition beneath the facade of perfection all of her life.  She has had to become a person that doesn’t really exist.  Her parents have plotted and planned her entire existence .  She is forced to be the perfect girl.  She is forced to date the perfect boy.  She is forced to live the perfect life.  It is expected of her to marry the perfect boy and become the perfect wife.  She does not want this even if it means going completely insane.  She wants to have control of her life.

Her parents have been hiding many secrets.  She is forced to hide them as well.  When she finally is able to convince them to allow her to attend the university it is with conditions.  They are still controlling her life from afar.  She is willing to concede to these conditions in order to escape her life.  She figures she can take control one moment at a time.  What she doesn’t realize is that they are still watching.  She is also in danger because she rebelled against them.

When she meets the mysterious boy that lives in her apartment building, she is hopeful of starting a normal life with normal friends.  She is intrigued with Ryler.

Just as it looks like both are heading towards friendship and possibly more, their lives will spiral out of control.  Ryler’s job with the FBI will escalate into a dangerous situation.  He will become part of the underworld.  His new boss will force him to do things he would never do.  To make matters worse, his new boss is Emery’s father.

Emery will start getting threatening letters.  Strange and dangerous things will start happening to her.  Her parents know all about these things before she has a chance to tell them.  The one person she has come to trust is now working for her father.  Ryler has been assigned to protect her.  To make matters worse, her perfect boyfriend, who is not so perfect, has showed up on the scene.

Life is spiraling out of control.  Who can Emery trust?  She no longer feels safe with Ryler even though he still stirs desires within her.

This book has so many things happening.  There are two storylines that spin a web of deceit and danger.  By the end of the book these two storylines begin to merge together and becomes a dark mystery with danger hanging over them all.

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Untamed is the conclusion in the Unbeautiful series.  It cannot be read as a stand alone novel.

The danger has escalated.  Ryler is in deep with Donny Elderman’s crew.  He has been taken under Doc’s (Emery’s father) wing and is being molded into his soldier.  Doc is exposing Ryler to more and more of the operations.  At the same time he is forcing Ryler to keep Emery in line.

Not only is Ryler frightened for his own life, he is also frightened for Emery’s life as well.  Things are not adding up.  Other informants are disappearing.  The FBI is forcing Ryler to participate in the underground world until he can find the location of the warehouse.  Ryler fears that his cover is being blown and that he is going to end up in a shallow grave.

The threats against Emery are escalating.  It has become clear that her nice boyfriend, the one she is forced to date, is abusive.  She has begun to have hallucinations again.  Her parents are threatening to take her home. Her secrets are starting to surface. She is frightened and has no one to trust.  The one person she thought she could trust works for her father.  But at the same time, Ryler seems different than the men that have worked for her father.  He seems to care about how she feels and what she wants.

The life threatening situations escalate into dark danger.  So many REVELATIONS come into play.  The suspense and danger comes from many directions.  The REVELATIONS are shocking.  It has readers fearing for both Ryler and Emery’s life.  They are just pawns in the overall game.

It will be up to Ryler and Emery to figure out how to survive.  The world of good and evil is colliding and they are stuck in the middle.  The only thing that is pure and abundantly clear is their feelings for each other.  Can they both survive and find the normal kind of life they both desperately crave?

Untamed does not end on a cliffhanger.  Reader’s will be very satisfied with the outcome.  Ryler and Emery will find their “normal”.

I highly recommend the Unbeautiful Series.  It is intense, frightening, emotional, and has a pure romance that will make your heart race.

Jessica Sorensen went beyond her excellent writing standards and delivered a powerful story.

Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author from the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.